Note to Yoruba Christians and Muslims

The South-West in Nigeria is one zone where Christians and Muslims dwell side by side with a relatively low level of rancour. This liberalism is a cultural attribute that has been for a long time. In an essay by an English anthropologist who witnessed the celebration of Oke’badan in the 50s, he expressed surprise at how Muslims freely mingled with their “pagan” neighbours during the festival.

Several reasons have been advanced for this but I think it has to do with the post-modernist worldview of Yoruba: no one’s God is the Way, Truth and/or Life; other faiths are valid co-mediators of spiritual encounters.

The arrangement is not perfect and can be fraught with tension but then, that is humanity for you.

The Yoruba diversity, however, also makes them vulnerable to political manipulation and lately, the oratory coming out of certain quarters shows this.

Some thought leaders are working assiduously, selling polarising narratives. They aim to create a Christian-Muslim dichotomy, pitting one against the other and utilising the consequent division for 2015 politics. 

In the past months, some analysts have been obsessed with which faith an acceptable presidential candidate should belong as if that in itself is the apogee of qualification for such an important post. They premise the pairing of Islam and Christianity into a team over other ideals as if the pseudo-balance they aim to achieve will resolve issues threatening to eradicate the Black race. It is perhaps unsurprising that the tremulous undercurrents of denominationalised politics is manifesting in the South-West with renewed urgency.

Some groups insist they would not accept anything less than a Christian governor in Lagos. In other states in the South-West too, there are loud grumblings that power must change hands to those of Christians.

The drama is being scripted for the federal level as well; the Presidency is being primed as a trophy to be won by whose God – the Christians’ or the Muslims’ – is the bigger one.

Now, we know that the South-West is critical to the realisation of the fusion of politics of religion and region because of its strategic placement. Anyone who will win the Presidency cannot do without “Yoruba” votes. For a government that is neither distinguished nor outstanding, one way to generate enough sentiment to fill a ballot box is to fuel identity politics.

For 2015, since the odds are already in the favour of the incumbent President, the ploy looks like an attempt to mobilise Christians through an amalgam of moral panic and the right dose of Islamophobia. The popular narrative is that the All Progressives Congress is a “Muslim” party, the Peoples Democratic Party is a “Christian” party and voting Goodluck Jonathan, therefore, is a “Christian” duty.

This narrative should be entertaining except the religious conflicts that took place in Osun State should teach us that the relatively peaceful co-existence of religions among the Yoruba should never be taken for granted. For, if the fires are stoked enough, they can consume the structures of mutual tolerance that have long defined Yoruba and that could be very dangerous in the long run.

This is not a naive undermining of the role religion plays in democracy. No people anywhere in the world vote neutral; we choose candidates based on the admixture of emotion and reason; blessed is the politician who understands this sleight-of-hand and uses it accordingly.

In case you are thinking that religious sentiment is an issue of minority overzealousness, consider that historically, most hate crimes are not perpetrated by a majority.

The case of Pastor Emmanuel Bosun whose sermon on the hidden agenda to Islamise Nigeria is making some waves on the Internet is therefore instructive. His message is filled with economised truths, ahistorical analyses, and several reductionist deductions assessed with skewed formulas and jaundiced calculus. With all the shortcomings of the present administration, Bosun insists Jonathan is God’s plan for Nigeria. He says, Jonathan might not be a successful President, but he fulfils God’s plan for retaining Nigeria’s Christian hue. Bosun is not a sole hawker of these ideas. Some less popular pastors are doing the same in their amen corners.

Considering that religion is both a cultural phenomenon and a huge capital in Nigeria, I find it hard to overlook the sectarianism manifesting here. These pastors are creating an enemy they will turn around and co-opt the congregation into destroying. And except for Harry Potter novels, “evil” and “good” are never that clearly delineated in reality.

But then, one must not fail to see the whole affair as a pushback of sorts by Christians. They have watched Muslims dominate the show in the years we have had autocratic leaders who also happened to be Muslims. Christians have grumbled at various indices of Islamic domination: ranging from Arabic inscription on the naira to the establishment of Sharia in Nigeria. The fact that these Christians are exhibiting a similar zeal in the time of a “Christian” president shows that fundamentalism is not a prerogative of any single religion.

At the end of the day, both sides are striving to do the same thing: put down somebody else’s confederate flag and replace it with yours.

The irony is that people like Pastor Bosun who accuse Muslims of trying to run over Nigeria conveniently forget that Christianity itself wiped out indigenous religions in several places. Till today, in some places in Nigeria, Christian fanatics destroy traditional religions’ shrines. Can he take an introspective look at the core problem, intolerance and ignorance?

Come to think of it, religion is part of what haunts Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s candidature. Even when his aides remind us his close aides are Christians, a few remain persuaded about his non-fanaticism. It is an irony that those who argue against Buhari’s emergence on religious basis are the same ones who seek to retain Jonathan in office on the same ground.

I acknowledge that while it is perhaps legitimate to whip up primordial sentiments for the sake of electoral victory, it is pertinent the Yoruba constantly remind ourselves that there is life after 2015 elections. Yoruba Christians and Muslims will have themselves to live with long after the “Christian” or “Muslim” president has made it to Aso Rock and eventually leaves in 2019. We cannot do away with aggression and competition in religion totally but we can at least “shine our eyes” so we don’t become sad pawns in the hands of mythomaniac politicians wearing religious toga.